10 



THE CUBA REVIEW 



GENERAL COMMENT ON CUBAN AFFAIRS 



A ROMAN CATHOLIC ISLAND 



The Right Reverend Charles Warren Cur- 

 rier, Bishop of Matanzas, was a recent, visitor 

 to Saratoga Springs, New York, and while 

 there gave a representative of the Ballston 

 Spa News an interesting interview regarding 

 Catholic Cuba. He said: 



"Although the Catholic dioceses of Cuba 

 are yet suffering from the devastations of the 

 war with Spain i.i '98, there has been con- 

 siderable progress made in wiping out the 

 poverty, misery, and hardships that are syn- 

 onymous with that war." 



Cuba's history previoi s to its becoming a 

 protege of the United States is a history of 

 rebellions and insurrections, begun and ended, 

 and it is only since 1898 that Cuba has started 

 out on its program of peace, progress and 

 prosperity that is to make it truly the Qaeen 

 of the Antilles." 



"Cuba is practically a Catholic Island," 

 said Rev. Currier continuing, "and the church 

 maintains some of the very best colleges and 

 private schools on the island. The import- 

 ance of these has been felt already in the 

 better living, pm-er and more wholesome con- 

 duct of the inhabitants. The object and aim 

 of the entire school system is to fit boys and 

 girls for a practical service, and in this Cuba 

 is keeping pace with the educational progress 

 of the world. The great industry of Cuba is 

 sugar planting, and during the past year the 

 success of the industry has surpassed some 

 of the best seasons." 



"Regarding the pastimes of his people the 

 Bishop said : 



"Cubans are particulary fond of going to 

 the theatres and have many beautiful play- 

 houses. Moving pictures, too, are as great 

 a drawing card there as here, and baseball is 

 the great athletic game. The people there 

 are quite as interested in the world's series 

 games as are the fans in any American city 

 and it is a favorite game between the colleges." 



Bishop Currier presides over one of the im- 

 portant dioceses of the island. Its Catholic 

 population, practically the enthe population, 

 250,000. He has 27 parishes to look after 

 and in these there are 30 churches, some of 

 them exceedingly imposing. He is also inter- 

 ested in a number of schools and colleges. 



The Bishop also stated that there are in the 

 province ruins of some ten old and famous 

 churches, burned during the last war with 

 Spain, which it will be Bishop Currier's 

 special task to rebuild. 



IISTERVENTION WAS NECESSARY 



"The destruction of the Maine in Havana 

 harbor 'and the Dupuy de Lome incident, 

 helped to irritate the American public against 

 Spain, but the pr-mary cause of the inter- 

 vention was the failure of Spain to end an 

 intolerable condition in Cuba from which 



the United States suffered. President Mc- 

 Kinley stood on solid ground, politically and 

 diplomatically, when he said on April 7, 

 1898, to the representatives of the European 

 powers who urged the United States to take 

 no warlike steps: "In the name of humanity, 

 in the name of civilization, in behalf of en- 

 dangered American interests which give us 

 the right and duty to speak and act, the 

 war in Cuba must stop." — New York Tribune. 



CONSULAR REPORT CRITICISED 



A criticism of a lengthy report from the 

 American Consul General James L. Rodgers, 

 Havana, Cuba, respecting the Isle of Pines, 

 appears in a recent issue of the Isle of Pines 

 Appeal. The editor says as follows: 



"Mr. Rodgers was evidently at some 

 trouble to prepare the report, for it is quite 

 lengthy and very commendable, although 

 he might have spent a little more time on 

 it and been a little more accurate. His 

 estimates on population are away off. Santa 

 Barbara, for instance, has a permanent popu- 

 lation of nearly 700, whereas the report 

 states that the permanent popidation of 

 the Isle is about 1,000 Americans, out of a 

 total of perhaps 5,000 residents. This 

 would leave only 300 people to provide 

 populations for Nueva Gerona, Santa Fe, 

 McKinley, Columbia, Los Indios, San Pedro, 

 and Santa Ana, to say nothing of the popula- 

 tion that must exist 'in the 30 or more to\Aais 

 of less degree, which he mentions, but which 

 none of the residents of the Isle appear to 

 have heard of. Again, he lays himself liable 

 to the ^\Tath of the good people of Santa Fe 

 by intimating that Gerona is the only place 

 for shipping water to Cuba or elsewhere, 

 and the best springs are there. The facts 

 are that Santa Fe has been shipping water 

 for many years and has a well established 

 trade, probably larger than the large trade 

 of Gerona. Mineral springs showing ex- 

 cellent analysis can be found in several 

 other parts of the Isle also. 



WORK FOR GOOD ROADS 



The admirable government roads on thL' 

 Isle of Pines, called calzadas, were constructed, 

 not by the Cuban authorities but American 

 in control of Cuba. The calzada between 

 Nueva Gerona and Santa Fe was built during 

 General Wood's administration, and the 

 McKinley and Columbia calzadas were built 

 during Governor Magoon's administration. 

 Nothing in this line has been done by the 

 Cuban government since. Nor have any 

 other improvements been made, excepting 

 that a couple of bridges are now being built 

 in the Mai Pais district and a wharf at 

 Jucaro is under construction. Both repre- 

 sent but a fraction of the money raised by 

 revenue from the Isle of Pines, which the 



